Grotesque

Chapter 3

Tessa was still lounging at the courtyard, basking in the attention from her little minions after humiliating Emery.
She was busy scrolling on her phone, taking selfies, laughing at her own jokes, when suddenly —

Her phone buzzed.
A text.
Unknown number.

Nice shoes. Too bad they're about to be ruined.
– G

Tessa blinked, confused.
She looked down — and immediately, the sprinklers lining the courtyard sputtered to life, blasting freezing water directly at her.

"AaAAH! What the hell?!" she shrieked, stumbling back in her brand-new heels, slipping and nearly falling on her butt as the sprinklers soaked her head to toe.

Her makeup ran.
Her hair frizzed.
Her carefully chosen outfit clung awkwardly to her body.

Everyone around started laughing.
Some tried to cover their mouths, but most didn't even bother.

Tessa's face turned bright red with rage.

She whipped her head around, searching for someone to blame — and caught sight of a figure leaning lazily against the far wall, arms crossed, watching her with a bored expression.

Ghost.
Silver hair.
Dark hoodie.
Smirking.

Their eyes locked for a second — and in that tiny second, Tessa's blood ran cold.
No one else seemed to notice.
But she did.

The way he tilted his head ever so slightly.
The way his smile didn't reach his eyes.
The way he made her feel like prey.

Tessa swallowed hard, backing up instinctively — only to slip again, this time falling flat on her butt in a puddle.

More laughter.
More photos.

Ghost finally pushed off the wall and walked away, hands in his pockets, like none of it had anything to do with him.

But as he passed by a still-running sprinkler head, it mysteriously snapped and sprayed water even harder — right at Tessa.

Coincidence?
Tessa didn't think so.

And somewhere, not too far away, Emery peeked out from behind a tree, confused and blinking at the chaos, unaware that someone had just declared war on her behalf.